To all who say they are sick of hearing about Caitlyn Jenner coming out…

I will never be sick of hearing about Caitlyn choosing to show the world who she is. I will never stop wanting to applaud her or those like her (see two of my personal heroes, Laverne Cox and Janet Mock), who have chosen to say “This is me, this is who I am.” I personally think that Caitlyn is an extremely brave woman.

There are things that I want to say to the naysayers, and I’ve been tempted to reply to a few individuals on Facebook and Twitter personally, but instead I’ll say those things here:

If you’re bored of reading about someone who has more courage in their little finger than you have in your entire body, then just STFU and move past without comment – It takes a whole lot of courage to live your life as your authentic self. A lot more than it takes someone who chooses to bitch about others.

Just because you’re in denial that even a former world class athelete can be Trans* doesn’t mean that you should start throwing your toys out of the pram – I’ve seen too many posts and tweets pointing at Caitlyn and saying ‘how could he?’ and ‘Not how I will remember Bruce‘. Bruce was, in effect the cocoon that Caitlyn has shed, allowing her to spread her wings. That doesn’t make Bruce any the less valid or any the less separate from Caitlyn. They are the same person…. the past achievements of a person are not erased just because they have allowed themselves to be truly them.

Some of you who claim the label ‘gay’ or ‘lesbian’ make me ashamed to claim those labels as my own – with each muttering about ‘can we just stop hearing about this now?’ that you post, you are showing your own intolerance for difference. You are showing that intolerance that you hate thrown in your direction. And yes, I am specifically looking at those of you within my community right now. What gives you the right to say that someone else’s personal path is any less important than yours? And those of you who are refusing to use Caitlyn’s name or her pronouns are seriously beginning to get on my wick. It’s not as if your struggle to come out is superior. Your privilege and the bigotry you claim not to have are showing.

To the religious crowd (and I sadly have to include my DNA in this one) – I’ve read the Bible inside and out. I’ve looked at pages of the Torah in translation, I’ve read deep and wide into so many different translations of so many religious books over my 32 years, and I have a partner who has a degree in Religious Studies. So when you try and tell me that God, whatever your interpretation of God may be, is being mocked in the expression of the God given gift of authenticity of gender, I’m going to look at you like you’re an alien with two heads. You are forgetting that only God has the power to judge and you do not have the power to speak for God. Just because people like Caitlyn, Laverne Cox, Janet Mock, Ruby Rose, and myself, don’t fit your binary world, does not make us any less children of God/Allah/Goddess/Spirit/Etc.

It really isn’t that hard to use Caitlyn’s preferred name or pronouns, or that of any Trans* person – if someone asks to be called ‘she’ or ‘he’ or ‘they’, it’s common frakking courtesy to use that pronoun. It irritated me when those who knew my godmother before transition still insisted on using male pronouns for her. It annoys me when you show Caitlyn that disrespect. It annoys me when you can’t accept or use my pronouns. And yes my personal pronouns are harder than others to remember at times, but you can use they/their/them if you can’t remember to use ze/hir/boi, I won’t hold that against you.

I am proud to be one of those people who will not ever be tired of seeing someone being their true authentic self. I thank Caitlyn and those who take the same steps as her. They give hope to so many people out there who have not yet had the courage to publicly take those steps and live life as who they really are.